WHERE THESE HAPPY FEET HAVE BEEN

       These happy feet have been to two quilt retreats, one in the Toledo, Ohio area where I got lots of mindless, but relaxing sewing done and a pedicure.  My Quilt Guild, Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild, asks each member to make and donate one quilt  per year to the women's shelter, so this is a good place to focus on that.                                The second retreat is the one I live for, it is in the thumb of Michigan on Lake Huron/Saginaw Bay, near where I grew up.  It is held at Bay Shore Family Camp and Ministry, I have been going to this  retreat once or twice a year for 7 years, once in March and again in October.  It a source of much personal growth and  wonderful fellowship with kindred spirits.  They have great classes to choose from, even for those of us who are non-traditional/art quilters.  If you choose not to take classes, which about half of the 80 plus quilters prefer, then there is a large work area to meet their needs.  If you haven't been to a quilt retreat, you are missing something.

In June, my happy feet took me to Columbus, OH for the NQA Show, and a day trip to Athens to see the Quilt National 2011 Show to see up close and personal work of so many of the names I have heard of and admired. 

 Fused glass jewelry, has led me to be a vendor at several  shows this year and we (my husband and I) have had such a good time and met so many wonderful people who have offered inspiration and lots of advice for us as we start off on this adventure of  seeing where the collision of fused glass and quilting is going to go.

These feet actually jumped for joy a couple times this year (3 times to be exact.  The first was on the 31st of January while hanging a show for the Ann Arbor Fiber Arts Guild   http://www.aafg.org/     in the Power Center, George Clooney who was filming in Ann Arbor walked in to the lobby  while a half dozen 60'something year old women were sweating like athletes.  the second time was on the 2 of February when I got a phone call telling me that one of my wall quilts sold; no, Georgel Clooney didn't buy it to take back to Hollywood, but it was a very significat piece.  the third yippee came with the e- mail that a piece that I called Quoth the Raven was accepted to hang in the Sacred Threads 2011 show  http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.org/ . 

tallyho, I hope all of your bobbins are full!